What is your ideal starting lineup and rotation?

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Go4

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Starting:
PG Nolen
SG Joseph
SF Carter
PF Johnson
C Sampson

Bench (in order of depth chart)
Guards: Westbrook, Hoffarber, Bostick
Forwards: JAS, Busch (these two should play sparringly and never together)
Center: Iverson, Williams (only playing if we're in severe foul trouble or up 20+)
 

I like it. I might even throw in Hoff or Bostick at small forward depending on the opponent and sit Johnson for a bit, though quickly bring him back in if there are defensive problems.
 

Starting:
PG Joseph
SG Hoff
SF DJ
PF Carter
C Sampson

Bench (in order of PT): Nolen, Westbrook, Iverson, Busch, Bostick. I would bench JAS and Williams.

I would definitely shorten up the rotation and give 30 or so minutes/game to DJ, Carter and Devoe. The rest of the minutes would be up for grabs for whomever steps up in a given game.

I think it's a fluid situation with this team because different guys have played well at different points in the season. If you would have asked me a month ago it would have been completely different and will probably change again a month down the road. The main thing is to give minutes to guys who have been producing.
 

Starting 5
G: Jackson & Tucker
C: McHale
F: Brewer & Thompson

Off the Bench
G: Lenard (instant O) & McDonald (true PG)
C: Breuer
F: James (banger) & Lewis (instant O)
Cheerleader: Crittenden

I think we might get off the bubble with that group.

In all seriousness, for tonight's matchup, I'd go smaller. Nolen, Joseph, Westbrook, Johnson & Sampson. See if Ralph can do anything with Sims, if that doesn't work stick Johnson on him. Maybe even start Blake or Carter in place of Westbrook if you want more size. The obvious problem would be starting both of our PG, but seems like we need to generate more early offense, hence start Joseph off the ball.
 



SelectionSunday said:
Starting 5
G: Jackson & Tucker
C: McHale
F: Brewer & Thompson

Off the Bench
G: Lenard (instant O) & McDonald (true PG)
C: Breuer
F: James (banger) & Lewis (instant O)
Cheerleader: Crittenden

I think we might get off the bubble with that group.
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I think the chants of "Play Hosea!" would be answered more frequently than ever if this was the group ahead of him building leads for the Gophers.
 

STARTING FIVE
G Jackson and Clark
F McHale and Hudson
C Thompson
 

Guards => John Stockton, Michael Jordan
Forwards => Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone
Center => Bill Russell

Bench => Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Oscar Robertson, Wilt, The Daddy, Kareem and Mikan.
 

this is a big problem. We're so deep you'd think we could find a good top five. But i can't. I think you just have to avoid having a dead combo out their for any lenght of time. Even though it's the future I'd definitely avoid ralphy and Ivy at the same time.

this lineup is flat and should be avoided.

Nolen
shamala/Hoff
DJ
Ralphy
Iverson

I guess I'd like to see us compact our rotation.

rotate
Nolen, westy, and canada

rotate
Carter/DJ

rotate
DJ/Ralphy/Iverson trying not to use all three at the same time. And preferably not the two freshment at the same time

Sprinkle in a little hoff/shamala/bostick looking for a hot hand.

So to summarize, in the absence of an obvious top 5, just avoid combo's with a lack of offensive aggression. Expecially for the first five minutes of the game. What a poor tone setter.
 



Starting Five

PG Pistol Pete
SG David Thompson
SF Adrian Dantley
PF Dr. J
C Magic

We might need more than one ball though.
 

PG Nolen
SG Joseph
SF Westbrook
PF Johnson
C Sampson III

6 Carter
7 Iverson
8 Hoffarber
9 Bostick
10 Busch
11 Abu Shamala
12 Payton
13 Williams
 


PG Nolen ... Still the best option at point.
SG Joseph ... His shots are falling and he has the biggest upside of any Gopher guard.
SF Hoffarber(!) ... Gophers need a second shooter on the floor.
PF Carter ... He's in my lineup to rebound.
C Sampson ... Polished post up moves

Johnson ... Until about two games ago I thought he was the team's MVP. He's out of my lineup because he can't shoot or handle the ball well enough to fill the SF slot and can't rebound enough to play PF.Maybe he's more suited to come off the bench to juice up the defense.

Iverson ... He's out of my lineup because he's not making the hustle plays he was making earlier this year.

Westbrook ... I have a three guard lineup. My third guard is Hoffarber because he's a bit bigger to defend the SF spot and Lawrence is in a slump.
 



Mikie S said:
PG Nolen ... Still the best option at point.
SG Joseph ... His shots are falling and he has the biggest upside of any Gopher guard.
SF Hoffarber(!) ... Gophers need a second shooter on the floor.
PF Carter ... He's in my lineup to rebound.
C Sampson ... Polished post up moves

Johnson ... Until about two games ago I thought he was the team's MVP. He's out of my lineup because he can't shoot or handle the ball well enough to fill the SF slot and can't rebound enough to play PF.Maybe he's more suited to come off the bench to juice up the defense.

Iverson ... He's out of my lineup because he's not making the hustle plays he was making earlier this year.

Westbrook ... I have a three guard lineup. My third guard is Hoffarber because he's a bit bigger to defend the SF spot and Lawrence is in a slump.
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This is exactly what I was going to post...so I am just going to agree with Mikie.

I don't know why everyone is so afraid of starting both Nolen and Joseph...Nolen can play 40 minutes if needed and doesn't often get into foul trouble. Rather put our best scoring team on the floor and adjust if fouls become an issue.
 

What is all too often missed is that it is a lot easier to adjust defensively in the middle of the game than it is to create offensive flow.

The only issue I could see with Nolen, Hoffarber, and Joseph in is who handles the ball when they get tired/have foul issues. I might hold Hoffarber out to put have him as the back up point guard.
 

right on mikie s.

Nolan not a consistent shooter but best ballhandler.. must start. must be taught how to feed post
Joseph great shooter at sg. gives great effort.
hoffarber great shooter at sf. smart player.
carter best rebounder, needed if going small at sf.
sampson, better in space without iverson clogging middle. make him stay in the lane.

dj subs in on "d" guard anyone who is hot.
cannot play carter and dj at same time, neither can shoot from outside.
iverson comes in and gets physical.
westbrook comes in for whoever is struggling at the 1,2, or 3.

bush,shamala, and williams come in for some effort plays when the a-team is in a funk.

*have you noticed how teams leave carter, dj, and nolen open for the 3?
 

GopherinPhilly said:
This is exactly what I was going to post...so I am just going to agree with Mikie.

I don't know why everyone is so afraid of starting both Nolen and Joseph...Nolen can play 40 minutes if needed and doesn't often get into foul trouble. Rather put our best scoring team on the floor and adjust if fouls become an issue.
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Here's the problem, I don't think Nolen can play 40 minutes. He's got some pretty bad asthma, and looks to get gassed pretty quickly. I'm not saying that Devoe and Al shouldn't play major minutes together, but Nolen needs his breaks, so you have to break the two of them up at least a little bit.
 

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